Persephone smiled a little, but was still troubled.
“Dear Ephialtes,” she said, “you have it in you to be so brave as you proved at Thermopylæ, but before I consent to a marriage between us, I want one more accomplishment that will bring glory to your name. Discover for our country Thermopylæ’s traitor.”
Ephialtes’ brow clouded. “That is a very difficult task. Will not proof of heroic valor in the next conflict with the Persians suffice to bring you to my arms, a willing bride?”
The barge now glided into a cove near the city, and Ephialtes rose to assist his fair companion in alighting from her seat at the prow. As she yielded her arm to his, she raised to his face a countenance, though outwardly serene, yet strangely determined.
“On the day that you deliver to Greece the traitor of Thermopylæ I will become your wife.”
CHAPTER VI.
Athena Speaks Through the Olive Branch.
“We climb the ancient steep, which chief and sage
Mounted before, through many a changeful age;
Where Cimon blessed the gods that Greece was free,
And Thrasybulus shouted ‘Victory.’”